Mirror Political Correspondent Sophie Huskisson here…
Andy Burnham – now the Labour leader – has set out five key promises to improve the Labour party and the country. He says together these will bring back “hope” to British families.
1. He vows to work “relentlessly” to build a better culture among Labour MPs and across the party. He makes a joke about a Burnhamite – a supporter of Burnham – walking into a bar. He says he wants the barman to say: “We don’t like factional politics here.”
2. He promises to build a “new politics” that focuses on what the public really wants, not political point scoring. He says: “How can politicians point fingers when living standards are falling? And politics as a whole isn’t working for them.”
3. Thirdly, he promises a “change in our political direction”, saying Labour must be “boldly, confidently, authentically”. He says: “We won’t try to out Green the Greens or out Reform, Reform.” Explaining Labour’s political thinking, he repeats his beliefs that power should be distributed across the country with more public control of essentials like housing, water, energy and transport.
4. He next vows to be a leader for all places, declaring: “I will be a leader for the North, the South, the East and the West, for Scotland, Wales and for Northern Ireland.” He says he loves every part of this country, all the accents, all the traditions, before jokingly adding “some of the football clubs”.
5. He saves what some argue is his core pledge until last. “We will take power back from Westminster and Whitehall and give it to the place where you live,” he says. “More power over life’s essentials so you can make them work better and more affordable for people.”
